Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1137 - 22: Stealing Leisure in Busy Times (Third Watch)

Chapter 1137: Chapter 22: Stealing Leisure in Busy Times (Third Watch)

Nie Jianhua wiped the blood from his nose, retrieved his bicycle, and rushed to join the group. He prayed to all the gods for protection. As for the old man with a thigh injury a few meters behind him, Nie didn’t bother to inquire.

"Jianhua, help me." The old man was just laughing and chatting with Nie Jianhua, but when trouble came, not even a word of politeness was spoken.

"He begged for mercy. You shouldn’t have killed him!" Dong Zixuan had a strong sense of justice and was somewhat dissatisfied with Tang Zheng killing the third black man.

"You expect the court to punish him?" Tang Zheng glared at Dong Zixuan. "If he truly meant his pleas, he would have dropped his weapons. I don’t want to get shot in the back."

"He might have just forgotten," Dong Zixuan said, unaccustomed to Tang Zheng’s disdain for life.

"Forgot? Then it’s just his bad luck, Zixuan. In the Trojan Horse Game, any carelessness can lead to death," Tang Zheng explained lazily, urging the others to move swiftly, "Let’s go."

Anton and Sally didn’t object. Even if it was their compatriot, robbery followed by death was all too common.

"What about that injured old man, Tang Zheng?" Uncle Wang would have preferred if it were the deceitful Nie Jianhua dead.

"Don’t leave me behind. I can give you money; my son works in an agency, I can get you civil servant jobs!" The old man didn’t want to die. Having lived for so long, he knew no one would help without compensation, so he immediately offered a reward.

"Judging by the speed of the blood pool forming, he definitely injured his femoral artery. No medicine, no hospital, he’s surely a goner. Let’s go," Tang Zheng made a decisive call and rode on, "If you don’t want to be devoured by zombies, end it yourself."

"Please, don’t leave me behind! I’m begging you." The old man was desperate. Seeing the newcomers leave, he turned again to Nie Jianhua, "Elder Nie, you can’t just stand by and watch me die."

Nie Jianhua ignored him and pedaled his bicycle to the front of the group. The newcomers were silent, some even feeling a sigh of relief deep down. After all, the elderly man was a burden, better to die and find peace sooner.

The old man watched everyone depart with tears streaming down his face. He drew his handgun, wanting to kill someone as a scapegoat, but couldn’t bring himself to do it and lay down on the ground, bleeding to death.

Maybe it was the stimulation of death, this time no one lagged behind without Tang Zheng’s reminder. They all pushed hard, with Nie Jianhua pedaling furiously to stay in the middle of the group, fearing another sudden incident.

"We’re close, about thirty minutes away from the suburbs," Anton said excitedly, then his face filled with loss, "How are we going to survive the coming days?"

"Don’t worry, I’m sure the government has everything arranged," Tang Zheng brushed it off casually, only to maintain relations, while he had already started considering the next steps.

The engine thundered as a white youth in a flight jacket without a helmet rode a heavy motorcycle through the streets, whooping joyfully. A blonde beauty, wearing only a bikini, clung to his back, her ample chest pressed against it, revealing a deep cleavage. Her long white legs were exposed for all to see.

The youth was arrogant, controlling the bike with one hand, while boldly stroking the bikini girl’s thigh with the other.

A middle-aged man, annoyed by a traffic jam and muttering complaints, saw the youth scrape past his car and flipped him off, swearing.

"FU~CK!" the youth cursed back, then pulled a Glock pistol from his waist and shot ferociously.

The middle-aged man was shot dead, crashing headfirst onto the steering wheel. Nearby pedestrians were shocked and scrambled for cover.

"He must be high," Anton remarked, looking at the blonde and flipping her off fiercely, but quickly withdrew his hand, not wanting to get shot.

The youth fired the gun wildly, indulging in the lawless atmosphere.

"Hey, idiot," Tang Zheng shouted when the motorcycle came within twenty meters.

Enraged, the youth aimed his handgun at Tang Zheng. The blonde reached for her companion’s waist, drew a handgun of her own, and aimed at him.

The newcomers were shocked and hit the brakes quickly, with Dong Zixuan and a few others also drawing their guns.

Unfazed, Tang Zheng held his gun one-handed and fired instantly, three bullets drilled precisely into the youth’s temples.

The out-of-control motorcycle toppled over, and the blonde’s head blossomed as well. Tang Zheng left no potential threat unchecked.

Some drivers attempted to hijack cars, but after Tang Zheng shot a few rounds, they all scurried back in fright.

"You..." Dong Zixuan saw Tang Zheng’s indiscriminate killing; her heart twitched at his cold-bloodedness.

"Such precision. Seems from the moment he started shooting, this kid is all headshots," Uncle Wang said without much sentimentality, just impressed by Tang Zheng’s marksmanship, "He probably wasn’t lying; you can’t fake that kind of skill. We’d better listen to him from now on."

The newcomers didn’t care about Tang Zheng killing. They just watched as he mounted the motorcycle, worried he might leave since it was much faster than a bicycle.

"Tang Zheng, don’t leave me behind," Liu Man couldn’t care less about what others thought, she ran out, hoping that Tang Zheng would carry her.

"I won’t leave anyone behind, don’t be distracted, move quickly, we’re almost there." Tang Zheng engaged the gear, released the clutch, and twisted the throttle at the same time; the motorcycle shot forward.

"Only a third of the gas left, damn it." Taking a glance at the fuel gauge, Tang Zheng felt annoyed; he had never ridden this kind of motorcycle and naturally had no way to calculate fuel consumption.

Anputon looked at his girlfriend, if not for the fear of Tang Zheng killing, he would have left already; this kid is too terrifying.

Sally shook her head, advising her boyfriend not to act rashly.

Instead of following the team, Tang Zheng first rode to the street corner, then waited for the newbies. This would psychologically drive them to speed up for fear of being left behind, though he wanted to scout ahead—he abandoned the idea, worried that the newbies would get the wrong impression.

Another ten minutes passed, and Tang Zheng raced to the end of the road, sitting astride the motorcycle, waiting for the newbies while reloading each firearm. Passersby coveted his ride but, intimidated by his weapons, dared not touch it.

"Hm? A supermarket?" Tang Zheng tied his backpack to one side of the motorcycle for easy access to his weapons, then kick-started the bike and stopped in front of a nearby supermarket.

Resting his left heel against the stand, he steadied the motorcycle, Tang Zheng jumped down and, rifle in hand, shot the lock off the anti-theft door.

Bang, bang, two more shots, then with a kick, Tang Zheng broke the door open and ducked inside. Scanning the area, he spotted a monitor and shot it out, then went to the cash register to grab a few bags and began selecting food—since he feared his motorcycle would be stolen, he could only take items near the entrance.

Chocolate, canned tuna, canned beef, bottled water—all were high-calorie foods that were easy to carry and store. As for alcohol, Tang Zheng didn’t give it a second glance. Of course, he made sure to grab some flint matches, though as a survival enthusiast, his keychain always held a magnesium rod.

Indeed, someone tried to steal the motorcycle; the black man wasn’t stupid, he even knew to steal the firearms from the backpack first. With his face tense, he unzipped it, grabbed the shotgun, and let out a sigh of relief, feeling secure. Just as he was getting on the motorcycle, he heard someone calling him and instinctively looked toward the supermarket entrance.

"Comfortable?"

Seeing Tang Zheng with a 92F in his armature, hanging at his side, the black man turned vicious, trying to face off with him, but before he could raise the gun’s muzzle, the other’s gun went off, and a bullet hit him right between the eyes.

"Trash." Watching the black man slump over, Tang Zheng turned back into the supermarket. Onlookers with ill intentions, seeing the corpse, were frightened and steered clear of the area.

"It’s been five minutes." Tang Zheng checked the time, knowing the newbies would be arriving soon, yet he wasn’t in a rush. His bike was fast, so leaving a bit later was no issue. So, he found a large backpack and stuffed all the food into it.

Humming a tune, Tang Zheng took an ice cream from the refrigerator but after one bite, he tossed it away, wary of an upset stomach.

"Seems like I’m a bit late; I need to urge them to speed up." Wasting another minute, Tang Zheng had planned to grab some more compressed biscuits but then heard a buzzing noise from the main street, followed by a flood of clamor.

"Zombies now? Just my luck." Tang Zheng turned and ran out, not needing to guess—the street was filled with cries of "ZOMBIES."

At a crossroads seventy meters away, a large pack of zombie dogs rushed towards the crowd, attacking people. Dong Zixuan and the others were close by.

The zombie dogs were decomposing, eyes bulging as if they would pop out, tongues hanging out, drooling, biting every human they saw. They had escaped from a nearby pet shop, where a zombie rat had entered and infected them all.

The main street was thrown into chaos, with citizens panicking and trying to escape. Thankfully, the sheer number of people distracted the zombie dogs, sparing the newbies further trouble.

"Move it!" Dong Zixuan didn’t need to shout; seeing the crisis, the newbies pedaled their bicycles furiously, fearing being caught if they were even a step too slow.

"Hmm, so the group leader is safe." Li Wenbo, sweating profusely, saw Tang Zheng casually walking out with a biscuit in his mouth and felt utterly frustrated.

"Help!" A woman carrying a child fell behind, very worried, shouting towards Tang Zheng.

"Stop shouting, he’s not an idiot; he won’t come." Just as Huang Shan finished slandering Tang Zheng, he saw him start the motorcycle, and although he didn’t ride over, he picked up the G36C Rifle.

Bang, bang—sharp and rhythmic rifle shots rang out as the zombie dogs chasing the fleet were gunned down and fell onto the road surface.

The woman saw a ferociously barking zombie dog closing in, just five meters behind her; it leaped towards her, causing her to scream in terror. But the next moment, the zombie dog’s head was blown apart by a bullet, and its body tumbled forward due to the momentum of the shot.

"Ride faster!" The zombie dogs were fast, and hitting a moving target at a hundred meters wasn’t an issue for Tang Zheng. But suddenly, he felt a bit drained; his reflexes could keep up, but his armature movements couldn’t. Additionally, the experience and instincts from past combat started to backfire.

....

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